So Kelsey Mitchell has been the first player officially cored by the Indiana Fever. And yeah, does this mean she’s saying no? Does this mean that the Fever are not letting her walk for nothing no matter what? Yes. Someone says she already says she wants a multi-year deal. Did she say that? She never said she won this season. No. No. If she says she wants a multi-year deal, she’s gone. It’s as simple as that with the Fever. If she wants a multi-year deal, she’s gone. If she’s willing to play for the $1.4 million supermax, she’s staying. It is as simple as that.
Kelsey Mitchell is going to be on the supermax. And it’s one of those things where if she signs a two, three-year supermax deal based on this core, which you can do if you look at the previous year, Jackie Young was on a multi-year core supermax. Kahleah Copper was on a multi-year supermax. It is possible to sign a multi-year supermax deal.
So if you’ve signed a multi-year supermax, I think we can wave bye-bye to Caitlin Clark for the Indiana Fever. Unless Caitlin Clark is willing to take a perpetual 500k a year contract, which I don’t think she will. It wouldn’t be a small pay cut. She would have to take a $1 million a year pay cut to stay with Indiana. And for people that are like, “Oh, she’ll stay with Indiana to win a ring.” I mean this when I say this. If she is willing to take a $1 million a year pay cut, she can go to a better franchise than the Indiana Fever and ring chase.
At the end of the day, I do think we’re going to see the one-year Kelsey Mitchell sign the one-year supermax. The second that she signs that deal, we know that she won’t be traded. We know that she will not be traded. I don’t think her supermax deal is going to really affect the Fever too much this year, but she’s going to sign for 1.4.
Aaliyah is going to sign for 1.2. Lexie’s deal will depend on what she gets offered on the open market, whether or not Fever can run it back because the Lexi money will dictate what they can pay for Sophie. If they bring Natasha back, they’re dumbasses. I don’t rate this organization, this front office at all.
I rate Stephanie White as a disruptor coach. What she can do is take another team and make them play their B game. She can win the chess match. I rate her as a playoff coach. I don’t rate her as an over 44 games coach. They’re two very different things. She is, in a football equivalent, like your Jose Mourinho. She will win you big games. She will win you a lot of close games, but the basketball is going to be ugly. She is your Jose Mourinho.
That’s not saying she’s a bad coach. We have to keep expectations in order when Stephanie White is coaching a team. It’s not going to be fun, exciting basketball to watch. It is going to be ugly, but it’s going to be effective.
This is by far the most important move. If she doesn’t come back, worst case scenario, you’ve got a king’s ransom. It’s as simple as that. If she wants out and wants a multi-year deal, whatever team is willing to give you that, you take all their assets.
Washington, you want to give her a multi-year deal? Give us your draft picks. You give us Citron. The trade starts with Sonia Citron. You give us Citron, pick three or pick four. Give us Lucy Olsen. It will cost Citron and pick four for Kelsey Mitchell.
If I’m the Fever, I’m taking that. There were rumblings that a Kelsey Mitchell trade was the reason why the Washington Mystics GM was fired, but I don’t think that’s the case. The expectation is that Kelsey Mitchell is going to play on a supermax.
This is going to come down to title or bust for Indiana. This move does shrink their title window. It makes it extremely difficult for them to put together a high-level team in 2027, 2028 when Caitlin and Aaliyah are in their primes and on max or supermax deals.
The Indiana Fever have done a really bad job of getting young players in the last couple of years. They cut Celeste Taylor, who would have been on a cost-controlled deal. KK Timpson just isn’t that good. They traded their eighth pick last year, which could have been Rivers. I have a feeling they’re going to trade the 10th pick this year.
They’re going all in. If they win a title, it’s not a wrong decision. If they make the finals, it’s not even a wrong decision. If they don’t make the finals, it will be a wrong decision to keep Kelsey Mitchell.
That being said, hindsight is going to be 20/20. It makes perfect sense trying to run it back and win because they were closer to the finals than anyone imagined with a hospital squad. There were a lot of outside circumstances that helped them, things out of their control happening around the league. The expectation for them to guarantee a title is a bit high.
If they even repeat what they did last season in the playoffs, it’s been a solid season.
Kelsey Mitchell being cored looks like she’ll be back. A 1.4 million supermax. She has absolutely earned every cent that she gets. She’s earned a multi-year deal.
The problem is there’s a cap. If there was no salary cap, you would pay her forever. But there is a cap, and her money affects their ability to pay Caitlin Clark and Aaliyah Boston.
If the Indiana Fever choose Kelsey Mitchell long-term over Caitlin Clark and Aaliyah Boston, it might be the right decision basketball-wise. But in a few months, that’s what we’re going to be talking about.
If they win a title and Kelsey Mitchell leaves, it’s the smartest decision ever. It’s a one-year rental versus the trade package you could get for her, and it has to be a real conversation.
At least there’s no situation where she walks for nothing.
If it wasn’t for the Caitlin Clark rule and Aaliyah was still on a rookie deal, and Caitlin had two more years on a rookie deal, there would be no issue with a two-year or even three-year supermax for Kelsey Mitchell.
The problem is this is it. This is them putting all their chips into the Kelsey Mitchell basket. I don’t know if it’s worth shrinking the title window.
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